Calf feeder



p 1943- LE ROY w. GRAHAM 2,329,347

CALF FEEDER Filed June 4, 1941 4 5 4 C 31 Ha. I. 7 /5 E /5 I 70 Q Q i777 IN VENTOR. ZEEOY n4 6/64/14/1 Patented Sept. 14, 1943 FEEDER 7 Lelhiygvi'. Graham; German Township, v St-Joseph County, Ind.

Application an, 1941, Serial No. eaeasow Y 4"Clain1s. citric-471) a 1invention relates to"improvements in cal f feeders; and moreparticularly to a device :by

which ("young calveswmay 'be fed-*while sbeing weaned iand before the-ca'1ves reach the age whenithey-iareqable properly .to feed' upon'ma- Izteiials'rwpositioned below normal head "height;

Heretofore, vit has been'the conventional 'pram;

tice of zdairymen and farmers.- who desire I to :ob- 'tain the milk of acow as soon as "possible for rsaleiiponxthe market, :to wean the 'calffromxits' mother-by feeding itffrom ia, pail.v This practicesfrequentlyleads to digestive-disorders in the .calf by \I'EaSOIIyOf the'inability'of the calf to :properly digest the-"food. Calves which.sufier such digestive disorders are greatly retarded in vtheirdevelopmentiand growth,. r.eqaire care and nursing, 'and also :fail todevelop a proper weight for a long period-of time after th illn'ess;

, Ruminating animals have-stomachs divided :into various compartments ofwhich the first is i a paunch in which the ,food eaten :bynthe animal isreceived and stored pending the time when I the animal ceasesieeding'and then regurgitaztes chews the food, andpassesgitiinto one .of:the other compartments-of thegstomach in which the digestiveprocesstakes place. Thus, {when a calf is' fed from a' pail, in which:eventthe, pail m u-st be placed in a position lower than the, animals head,the milk which it drinks .passesv into this .paunch where it will sourunless passed on ;to'

the digestive part of the stomach after reg rgination. It appears *thatsome young calve ,do

not regurgitate naturally-at the age when weaned,

and :hence the milk received within the paunch stays therein, sours, andcauses colic and other zdigestive disorders. On the contrary, where "thecalf 'feeds .in the] normal ,ip sition with its head elevated, no suchdigestive disorders:occur., iApparently, the reason' iorj-thisdifference is that the elevated "or: inclined position of the neck oftheanimal permits the milkto-pass directlydnto one of the digestiveportions of the 'stomach.

wherefore, it is the primary object of :this

-inventionto FDI'OVidef a device :bylmeans of which .a calfmay :be ledwith its head elevated until suchytime as+-its physical developmentpermits "it to feed upor'r-food which ,isin a position-lower than headheight and-then properly assimilate and digest the food.

.Afurther object -.isto provide a device ofthis character including aflexible container which .will yield uponwbuntinglby the-calf, and whichwill substantially "preventoverfiowing or t spillingofthemilklduringieeding;

character adaptedto be suspended fromza support and having a nippledetachablyfconnected to the lower end of the cont'ainer of the device tofacilitate disas'sembly of .t'hexdevice. for-I.-c1earr- 'ingandsterilizing purposes. I

v A further object is to provide a .devioeiof this character comprisinga flexible container, a nip.-

' ple, and a separable connector ihaving-partscare 'ried respectively bythe container andwthe' nip,

pie, and ha ving an unobstructed bore -through which the milk may passrapidly byvgravitymto prevent the taking of wind by=the-. calf duringfeeding. n i v Aiurther obj ect is to provide a devicezo-f "thischaracter "having a flexible .=containe'ropen at its-upper endandprovidedwitha transversely restricted: portion adjacent its upperend'to -prevent spilling "of the milklwhen the containerais v-compressed,-moved or shaken, as incident to bunt-' I ing thereoi byacalf while feedingl J Aifurther object is to provide'adeviceofathis" ov character havinga flexible container open at its upper end andnormally-in flat form, wherein registering openings are formed inopposite walls of the container adjacent the open end thereof to fitaround a support for suspension of the device from the support withitsupper open end in flat, substantially closed form ,"both whenempty'andwhenfull.

Other objects 'willbe apparent fron'i the de scription, drawing, a d,Inthedrawing:

appended claims- 1 Fig. 1 is a side view illii'stratingzthe"manner-in"whichthedevice may be suspended fromfa' support.

'Fi 3ois a top view of the device. a v Fig. 4 is a side edge ,view ofthe device.

Fig. ,2 is a view of ,thedevice inside elevation'.="

Fig. 5 his a longitudinal transverse sectional view taken online 5& ofFig. 2.

Referring tothe drawings, whichfilhistratejsthe I preferred embodimentof theinventio-n; the-numeral l0 designates the container portionofftiie device which is preferably-formed o-f rubber-or like flexiblematerial. In the'even't'ruhber is employed, the same willbe of athickness'preferably slightly greater than the ithickness';,of the innerV the container.

fposite sides of the container.

ends of the wall II at L Adjacent the upper end of the walls II, thesame are provided with curved inwardly directed edge portions I whichserve to reduce the transverse dimensions of the container below theupper end thereof.

The upper end'of the container is open, is of a width substantiallyequal to the width of the main body portion of the container, and has amarginal reinforcing band I5, vulcanized or otherwise suitably securedthereto. A plurality- 'of eyelets I! are mounted in and extend through acontainer walls II and the reinforcing portion I6 adjacent the top ofthecontainer.

The'large diameter and unobstructed character of the bore throughtheseparable connector parts 2 I.22 permits the milk to flow rapidly fromthe container into the nipple 20 by gravity.

Hence, if thecalf bites, presses upon and squeezes the nipple infeeding, so that some of the milk is forced upwardly-out of the nippleand the flow of the milk into the nipple is restricted, the milk Theeyelets I! are preferably arranged in such a manner that each thereof issubstantially axially aligned with another eyelet in the opposite wallportion II of Thus, in the form illustrated,

wherein't he container is provided with six eye I lets, one aligned setis positioned at the center of the upper end of: the container, and theother two aligned setst'are positioned adjacent the op- The eyelets;serve as means to suspendthe container, in the position illustrated inFig.5 from. supportsrlfiinthe nature of nails or pegs. driven intogawa1l-or other rigid structure @I 9 in a position substantially above thenormal head height of'the: calf.

v Anelongated flexible nipple 2t, also preferably formed of thick rubberwhich willtencl to main;-

tain a normal'extended position and to returnto that position afterbeing flexed, is adaptcdato be connected to the lower end of container;It:

As best illustrated in Fig. 5, the nipple mounts a metal sleeve 2 Itherein at its open end. Sleeve 2I is preferably of a length toprojectfrom'the end of the nipple-and its projecting portion isscrew'threaded. The sleeve-has a substantially unobstructed bore.therethrough of large diameter, and is cemented. or otherwise rigidlyand I fixedly secured in sealed relation within thee-pen end or mouth ofthe nipplej An internally screw threadedsocket member 22 fits withinneck I3 of the container and is cemented or otherwise securedor'imbedded therein; in sealed relation.

Socket 22 has an inwardly-directedflange zsat its innerend of a diametersubstantially the same as the inner diameter of tube 2I-, and againstwhich a gasketring ZA-is'adapted to seat. It will be understood that theprojecting end ofthe tube 2| bears against thegasket ringZA 'toseal theconnection between the parts.

In the use of the device the sameis filled with milk and is then mountedupon the supports 'l 8 to suspend therefrom. The supports I8 are of suchheight that when the feeder is suspended therefrom, the nipple 26 willbein a position above the v normal head heightof a calf. Hence, when thecalf isbeing'fed therefrom, its head will be elevated in substantiallythe samepositionas the head assumes normally when the calf is being fedbyits mother. l

The flexible character'of the device is" such that bunting by the calfwill be fully 'accommodated, and there is notany danger of overturningthe container or spilling the milk therefrom.

There will be a tendency during hunting of the f container by the'calffor a certain por'tionvof. the milk to spill but this is'largelyrestrained or prevented by the reduced neck portion I5 .of thecontainer. Neckportion I5 diverts the direction of movement of milkforced upwardly in, the

to prevent overflow and quickly restore the normal liquid level of themilk within the container, thereby preventing the loss of, anysubstantial .amount of milk from the container.

will flow back into the nippleas soon as the bite of the calf uponthe-nipple is released. It will be obvious'that this freefiow of themilk is also facilitated by the thick self-shaping characterflof thematerial forming the nipple, so that the same will always tend toquickly resume its normal position after being compressed. vHence, thepossibility that the calf will take on windin feeding by reason of aninadequate rate of flow of milk into the nipple is substantiallyavoided.

The separable connection of the parts facilitates disassembling forcleaning and sterilizing thereof, and accommodates full access toallzparts by the use of a regularcleaning brush or swab.

..The normally flatjform 'of the container of the deviceis also notablyadvantageous. .Thus, even when. the containeris filled, vtheuppere'ndthereof will .tend to assume a,,flaty-substantially closed @form asbest. illustrated. in .Fig ilt. Also, I

the fact that the deviceis suspendedat a plurality of pointsby means ofthe aligned-eyelets I I tends to hold the upper end of .thecontainerclosed. The 'closed con'ditiona'of. the, container. has severaladvantages, includingsthe exclusion of dirt from. the container, andavoidance or Iii) 7 0 container by the bunting'in an inward directionsubstantial elimination. of spilling or overflow 01 the milk from thecontainer during buntingby the can. The flexible character of thecontainer coupled With'its normal fiat form provide an -ad'-.

ditional. advantage in positioning the nipple- 20 spaced from the wallor other structure-Iflfrom which the. deviceis suspended, asillustratedin Fi l, in a manner to permit the calf tojre'adily take thenipple.

Iclaimz A 1. A calf feeder comprisinga flexible container 45 open atitsupp'er endand having registering operrrigid meansfor detachablyconnectingsald mp:

ple to the bottom ofsaid'containerQ-H 2. A calf feeder comprising anormally flat flexible container open at -its upper end; a reinforcingband secured to the uppermarginof said container, a pairjof eyeletssecured to and-ex tending through opposite walls of said container andsaid band inaxial alignmentg-said container having a reduceddimension'neck portion intermediate its length and. adjacent itsuppere'nd, a J

nipple formed of thick walled resilient material" aving substantialdefonnation-resist ing properties, and rigid means for detachably*connecting said nipple to thelowerend of 'said centamm r 3. A calffeeder comprising a fiexibIeiliQiiid 1 container normally in flat form,"said;ontainer being open at its upper end and having ajrestrictedopenneck' in, its lower end, a flexible nipple openatone: end and formed ofthick walled resilient material having 'substantial 1:deformation-resisting properties,a rigid-two part sepa "rable connectonone fconnector" part being secured in sealed relation in the vopenxendofsaid nipple and the other in the neck-oi saidzcontainer, saidcontainer having Eregisterin'g aperon a support fromjwhichsaid containermay be suspended, the container walls at the apertured open end of saidcontainer ,bei'ngof increased thickness toretain flat substantiallyclosed posi-e tion when suspended at said apertures.

4. A calf feeder comprising a flexible liquid container normally in flatform and havingan' open upper end of increased wallthicknessa tainer insubstantially axial alignment and adaptthe other part being carried bythe open said nipple. V I v V LE ROY GRAHAM.

pair of eyelets secured to" the upper ends ofoppositeincreasedwthiokness side portions of saldcon' j

